No spam ever. Unsubscribe in one click.
By submitting your email address, you indicate your consent to receiving email marketing messages from us. If you do not want to receive such messages,
tick here:

Judd Trump sees off Gary Wilson to reach second World Snooker Championship final

Trump celebrates reaching his second final (credit:Dave Howarth/PA Images)

Judd Trump will take on John Higgins in the 2019 World Championship final after sealing a 17-11 victory over Gary Wilson at The Crucible on Saturday.

The Ace set up a repeat of the 2011 world final – his previous appearance in the showpiece – as he fired in top breaks of 114 and 97 on the way to a comfortable triumph.

He will now be aiming to complete the career Triple Crown when he does battle with Higgins for the title over the next two days.

Leading 9-7 overnight, the world number seven opened the morning session by winning back-to-back frames to extend his lead.

World number 32 Wilson replied by taking the 19th on the colours, but Trump hit back with a magnificent break of 114 – the record-breaking 87th century of this year’s World Championship – to maintain his four-frame buffer.

The next four frames were shared before the Ace took the first of the evening on the pink.

Qualifier Wilson, who had won six matches to reach the one-table set-up, rallied with 68 to keep his faint hopes alive.

However, Trump found another gear as the winning line got closer and breaks of 97 and 88 sealed the deal.

"It's an unbelievable feeling to get back to the final after so long," said the 29-year-old, who has also beaten Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Ding Junhui and Stephen Maguire on his way to reaching the showpiece.

"When you get to the final the first time, you think it’s going to happen every single year. At my age now, I’m mature enough to appreciate how much effort goes into it.

"I think we both struggled with the conditions compared to the first couple of rounds. I was trying to take one ball at a time towards the end.”

"It's going to take a monumental effort against John over distance. The level I produced at the end of my match against Ding and the start of my game against Maguire is one I’m going to have to consistently produce to get close to him."

Wilson was heavily critical of the table conditions in his post-match interview, but admits he lost to the better player.

"To be honest, that was disappointing," he told BBC Sport. "The table was disgusting.

"First and foremost, Judd deserved to win, I wasn't good enough today at all or yesterday.

"I've got to say, that table is disgusting.

"He [Trump] said it himself as well, it's running off all over the place, you're getting square bounces, kicks every other shot.

"It's not an excuse, it's just simply saying that I struggled myself but that made it even worse."